Obama Threatens to Veto: A Chance To Stop the Common Core Standards Posted by Donna Garner Education Policy Commentator EducationViews.org on July 19, 2013 in Daily, Insights on Education, Teachers | 0 Comment Common_Core_Standards_Pushback_0ab1cby Donna Garner 7.19.13 The following is taken from the summary of the Student Success Act (H. R. 5) that the U. S. House passed yesterday. If passed by Congress, H. R. 5 definitely would nullify the Obama administration’s takeover of the public schools through the Common Core Standards Initiative. Thankfully, our Congressman, Bill Flores (R-Texas), was one of the House members who voted for H. R. 5; and his press release is posted further on down the page. What we in the public must do is to pressure our U. S. Senators to make sure that the following provisions stay in H. R. 5 when the Senate takes up the bill: Ø Common Core: The legislation removes the Secretary of Education’s ability to coerce or incentivize states to adopt Common Core standards. The specific language in Section 111 of the bill follows: “the Secretary shall not, either directly or indirectly, attempt to influence, incentivize, or coerce State— (1) adoption of the Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards Initiative, any other academic standards common to a significant number of States, or assessments tied to such standards; or (2) participation in any such partnerships.” The Common Core Standards Initiative developed Common Core State Standards (Common Core) with the cooperation of the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The federal government was not involved in the creation of Common Core. However, the Obama administration has used a “carrot and stick” approach in regards to the adoption of Common Core. The “carrot” was the use of $4.35 billion of the Race to the Top grant program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under Race to the Top, states competed for grant money on a points-based system. If a state agreed to adopt Common Core as part of their grant application they received a certain number of points. However, some states that agreed to adopt Common Core, such as California, still failed to be awarded Race to the Top grant awards. A Department of Education Executive Summary of the Race to the Top program can be viewed here. In 2011, Secretary Duncan announced the NLCB waiver program.[2] The Obama Administration has used the nearly impossible to achieve standards of NCLB as the “stick”, or threat, to coerce states to adopt Common Core. Only fives states have either never made a NCLB waiver request or withdrawn their request.[3] Thirty-nine states have been granted NCLB waivers in return for adopting Common Core or other “college- and career ready standards”.[4] Secretary Duncan’s letter to states regarding ESEA “flexibility” and waivers can be viewed here.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 15:11:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015